The inside scoop on food in Los Angeles

5 Questions for Tim Goodell

February 13, 2012 | 11:18
am

Restaurateur and chef Tim Goodell is the founder of Domaine Restaurants. He and his wife, Liza, opened acclaimed French restaurant Aubergine in 1994 in Newport Beach and then Troquet at South Coast Plaza a few years later. Goodell has since launched several restaurants, including the upscale burger chain 25 Degrees, the pan-Asian Red Pearl Kitchen and, most recently, Public Kitchen & Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood.

What’s coming up next on your menu? Thinking about spring down the road ... any of the veggies forthcoming: peas, rhubarb, baby artichokes, ramps. Spring vegetable tart with young artichokes, asparagus, tomatoes on the vine, pine nuts, farm egg and Pleasant Ridge Reserve [cheese].

The one piece of kitchen equipment you can’t live without, other than your knives? The Vitamix food blender for soups, purees, smoothies. I even puree the dry oatmeal for the chocolate chip cookies I make for my kids' lunches. Roasted cauliflower soup with three curries, pancetta, Greek yogurt and tiny croutons.

What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again? Sushi Shibucho for omakase. This is sushi at its purest, by far the best in the O.C. I'm usually the only non-Asian there. Sometimes, the chef is even rude. I have seen him ask non-Asians to leave the bar and go to a table so his Asian customers can have the spot at the bar.

What’s your favorite breakfast? The Italian cappuccino and a "jumper cable" [an unofficial coffee drink there made with cold-brewed coffee, heavy cream and sometimes vanilla] from Martin Diedrich’s Kean Coffee. Cream of wheat with brown sugar, raisins, butter and cream from the Galley in Newport Beach.